Taxpayers’ lobby wants $13B in spending cuts to balance Ontario books in 2014

TORONTO – The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is urging the Ontario government to slash $13 billion in spending to balance the province’s books this year.

Candice Malcolm, spokeswoman for the non-profit advocacy group, says Ontario’s debt has doubled under 10 years of Liberal rule to $272.8 billion, which cost nearly $11 billion this year just to pay the interest.

She says people can’t afford to keep shelling out more in interest without actually making any payments to lower the debt.

Malcolm says the government could save $2.7 billion by ending what she calls corporate welfare— grants to businesses — and another $1.5 billion a year by killing full-day kindergarten for four- and five-year-olds.

The taxpayers’ lobby also wants the government to end the 10 per cent rebate on electricity bills, which cost $1 billion a year, and to kill the 30 per cent tuition discount for most college and university students.

Malcolm says the cuts her group is proposing would be more than enough to eliminate Ontario’s projected deficit of $11.7 billion, and leave some to make a payment to lower the actual debt.

However, Finance Minister Charles Sousa says “zero deficits mean nothing if we have zero jobs and zero growth,” and the Liberals remain on track to balance the books by 2017-18.